An egg a day keeps the doctor away

An egg, which costs around one yuan on average, may just be an ordinary part of most people's daily diet. But to children in Huining county in northwestern China's Gansu province, an egg means better nutrition, a healthier body, and can even help them to study harder.

Huining county was famous as being on the route of the Chinese Red Army's Long March in 1936, but the only thing that's of note in this area now is that it's poverty-stricken to the extent that local children lack access to decent and nutritious food.

"Lacking fresh eggs, protein, fat and amino acids, poor nutrition impacts on the children's brains and bodies," said Ma Guansheng, director of the Nutrition and Food Institute under China Disease Prevention and Control Center (CDPCC).

On the occasion of May 20, National Students' Nutrition Day, China Soong Ching Ling Foundation joined forces with food giant Nestle to launch the Nutrition and Health Education Project in Huining county.

Under the project, Nestle will help build a nutrition classroom at Huining No 1 Secondary School, providing local students with professional physical examination facilities and guidance on nutritional education.

In addition, Nestle China will set up the "Nestle Nutrition Fund" to support 500 students from Huining No 4 and No 5 secondary schools who suffer from a lack of basic nutrition.

Furthermore, another nutritional fund for local female students in primary and secondary schools will also be established by Nestle China, from which 500 local girls will get support for nutrition and their education.

"It is easy to see that children from poverty-stricken areas largely look thinner and shorter than urban children of the same ages," said Anthony Low, head of corporate affairs and marketing communication of Nestle Greater China.

He added that as a world-leading nutrition, health and wellness company, and as a council member of the Chinese Nutrition Society, caring for children's health and nutrition is Nestle's primary responsibility.

In fact, according to a nutrition expert from Peking University, after conducting some nutrition-related research, it found that the task of promoting a healthier lifestyle should be expanded to the whole western area as soon as possible.

According to the latest report from CDPCC, western China had about 7.6 million poor children under the age of 14 with insufficient nutrition in terms of quantity and quality. These youngsters were shorter and weighed less than their urban counterparts. Moreover, they were also 4 cm shorter and 0.6 kg lighter than the standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

While their health improves, poor rural children will gain something more from the program, said a teacher from Huining No 1 Secondary School.

"Healthy food improves children's health, which means they can also study harder," she added.

According to Low, while promoting the improved nutrition of children in western China, Nestle's Nutrition and Health Education Project will also promote a healthier lifestyle throughout the country.

Since April, Nestle China has issued 150,000 Nestle Nutrition Books, providing them along with its Cheerios breakfast cereal.

With its educational cartoons, the book seeks to teach Chinese children about the importance of good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.

For instance, it tells students about the importance of drinking milk, how to exercise the right way, and the best foods to eat for breakfast.

The book also provides parents with useful information, such as how to exercise at work, how to do yoga with the whole family, and ways to make a healthy breakfast.

The initiative was launched as China witnesses the rapid growth of some diet-related health problems.

One in every 13 children suffering from adiposis - an excessive accumulation of fat in the body - in the world, is from China, according to a report from the Chinese Association for Student Nutrition and Health Promotion. Currently, over 12 million Chinese students suffer from adiposis.

Recent studies in China showed that one of the reasons for the fast-increasing number of youth adiposis sufferers is the unhealthy lifestyle, such as an abundance of protein and fat, as well as a lack of exercise and breakfast.

(China Daily 06/01/2009 page8)